Bizspace Spotlight

The executive who previously led a local organization designed to boost the Triad’s profile as a logistics hub is suing the Piedmont Triad Partnership for allegedly failing to pay severance costs owed to him.

David Hauser, the executive director of the N.C. Center for Global Logistics until February, is seeking to recover about $10,000 in compensatory damages from the PTP, which developed the center to support an industry spanning everything from trucking and supply-chain management to warehousing and distribution.

The lawsuit states that PTP stopped making regular payments to Hauser in April, alleging that he violated a severance agreement by disclosing confidential information, which Hauser denies.

Hauser’s attorney, Daniel Nash of Morgan Herring Morgan Green & Rosenblutt in High Point, declined to disclose the nature of the information that PTP alleges was disclosed. David Joseph, an attorney for PTP, confirmed that PTP is aware of the lawsuit but declined to comment further. David Powell, president and CEO of PTP, also declined to comment.

Shift in focus

The lawsuit was filed about six months after Hauser’s departure from the logistics center as PTP shifted to a partnership between four community colleges led by Guilford Technical Community College.

The shift was made in part to create a sustainable revenue stream for the organization through sources including course offerings and other activities such as consulting. Charles H.W. Edwards, a Raleigh-based logistics professional, was named the new director of the center in July.

Hauser told The Business Journal earlier this year that he departed the center because the role now requires at least a master’s degree to teach courses. Within weeks after leaving the N.C. Center for Global Logistics, Hauser announced his intent to join several local business executives in establishing the similarly named N.C. Global Logistics Alliance in Winston-Salem. While touted as a privately led organization that could complement efforts to build the cluster, the alliance would also compete in some ways for consulting revenues.

Hauser referred inquiries about the lawsuit to Nash, who said the next step is to follow the court process “as far as we need to go.” He added that Hauser wants to continue to have a working relationship with the PTP.

“My hope here is that this problem will get resolved very quickly without litigation,” Nash said. “We want to reach a speedy resolution to this and not have this fight drag out in the court and the public eye.”

According to the lawsuit filed in Guilford County Superior Court, Hauser was employed with the PTP on or around February 2007 until Feb. 9, 2012, and that his most recent position was executive director of the center.

The lawsuit states that Powell presented Hauser with a severance and release agreement in January that detailed sums of money to be paid to Hauser as severance benefits.

Under the agreement, Hauser would be paid his regular base salary from Feb. 10 until May 9, the lawsuit states.

However, PTP stopped making payments around April 14 due to the alleged violation of the agreement, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit states that Hauser “has engaged in no action that violates the terms and conditions of the agreement between plaintiff and defendant.” The lawsuit also says that the PTP did not pay Hauser his final three payments and that he is entitled to recover compensatory damages in excess of $10,000.

Eric Fink, a professor at Elon University School of Law who teaches labor and employment law, said it is not unusual for a severance agreement of this nature to include conditions on confidentiality.

That said, an employer can’t prevent someone from “talking about normal stuff that is common knowledge,” Fink said. Confidential information would include “special information that is unique to the employer,” Fink said.

Reach Katie Arcieri at (336) 370-2913 or karcieri@bizjournals.com.

Katie Arcieri covers manufacturing, aviation and economic development for Triad Business Journal. Contact her at 336-370-2913.